Pete Rose was banned from baseball for life by Commissioner Bart Giamotti, on August 24, 1989. There is no doubt that Rose bet on games that he was involved with, and that was obviously against the rules, and of course it was bad for baseball. But unlike Alex Rodriguez and Ryan Braun, Rose wasn’t a cheater.

While there is no proof that that he didn’t bet against himself, there is absolutely no evidence that he did. And if you consider how sloppy Rose was about concealing his gambling habits, it’s likely that if he had bet against himself, we’d know it.

The evidence was so staggering that it was difficult to fathom. Records of phone call after phone call made to bookies, sometimes just minutes before the national anthem. Records of bets, one after another, day after day, on virtually every team, including the team he managed, along with the amount of the bet – wagering almost $20,000 per day.
The baseball world — and the world in general — was staggered by the amount of evidence, leaving little doubt that Pete Rose, baseball’s all-time hits leader and one of history’s greatest and celebrated players, had gambled on baseball and bet on his own team.Read more: ESPN

Rose wasn’t a cheater. He was just a pathetic gambling addict.

I tried everything I could every night to win. I told the guy [I bet with] before the season I want my team every night and we’ll settle up at the end of the year. That was my first year without playing. Managing wasn’t enough. I needed more. The more was betting on my team every night.Read more: Sports Illustrated

Eric Bruntlett is the 15th player in baseball’s modern era to pull of an unassisted triple play. Bruntlett’s hat tricked came in the bottom of the ninth inning against the Mets at Shea Stadium, on August 23, 2009. This was only the second time when a game ended on a triple play. The first time it happened was in 1927 when the Tigers Johnny Neun ended a game against the Indians in similar fashion to Bruntlett. He caught line drive, touched second base and tagged a runner.

Stephen Strasburg and U.S. Team have to settle for Bronze after 10-2 Semi-Final Loss to Cuba

Two years before he became the most hyped draft pick in MLB history, Stephen Strasburg had just finished his junior year at San Diego State. He was the only college player to compete for the U.S. on the Olympic team. In his first start in the Olympics, against the Netherlands, Strasburg pitched a one-hitter, but in the semi-final round against Cuba he was lifted after giving up three runs (two earned) in four innings.

2008 was the last year when baseball was a medal sport at the Olympics.

The Milwaukee Braves were playing the Cubs at Wrigley field, and Mathews got hit on his left hand. It was the result of an errant fifth inning pitch from Chicago’s Hal Jeffcoat. Mathews had to come out of the game and was taken to Illinois Masonic Hospital. X-rays were taken there, but did not show any fractures. However, he was unable to return to action for another week.

Prior to the Rangers feat, 17 Major League teams (since 1900) had scored 25 or more runs in a game including a pair of 29 run outbursts, one by Red Sox at the hands of the St. Louis Browns on June 8, 1950, the other by the White Sox, courtesy of the Kansas City Athletics on April 23, 1955. The A’s had just left Philadelphia at the end of the 1954 season. Their 29-6 loss to the White Sox was only the sixth game they played in Kansas City.

The Cardinals hold the National League record for the most runs scored in a game. On July 6, 1929, they beat the Phillies 28-6.

In the Texas vs. Baltimore game, the Orioles actually actually led 3-0 through the end of the third inning. Then in the fourth the Rangers scored five runs. In the sixth inning they scored nine, followed by ten in the eighth and six in the ninth. Incredibly, the Rangers had scored thirty unanswered runs, and all of them were earned.

57 Rangers batters came to the plate. They got 29 hits.The Orioles allowed eight walks and they committed one error.

Daniel Cabrera started for Baltimore. In five innings he gave up six earned runs on nine hits He walked one batter and struck out four.

Compared to the three guys who followed him in so-called relief, his line for the game was positively stellar. Brian Burres replaced Carbrera in the sixth inning. He gave up eight runs on eight hits. He also walked a batter and threw a wild pitch. He did manage to get one batter to ground out (bunting) and he even recorded one strikeout.

Rob Bell followed Burres, and was almost as bad, handing out seven earned runs on five hits and three walks, in one and a third innings.

Not to be outdone was Paul Shuey who pitched two innings of “mop up”. He allowed nine earned runs on seven hits, and also gave up three walks. Shuey now holds the distinction of allowing the 30th run of the game, on a Ramon Vazquez homer in the ninth inning.

In the entire 114 year history of modern Major League Baseball, this was the one and only time in which one team, in one game, scored thirty runs.

Chinese Gymnasts won the “women’s” team all around Gold Medal at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. They were led by He Kexin, who also took a Gold Medal in the individual uneven bars. Even as they were competing, there was rampant speculation that He and several of her teammates were “under aged”. The official age minimum set by the International Olympic Committee at the time of the Beijing Olympics was 16.

On August 21, 2008, the New York Times and several other news sources reported that the I.O.C. was launching an official investigation to determine if the Chinese Gymnasts were in fact under aged.

BEIJING — The International Olympic Committee asked the world governing body for gymnastics to investigate whether members of the Chinese women’s team were too young to compete in the Olympics.

The I.O.C. instructed the international gymnastics federation, known as the F.I.G., to take up the issue with the Chinese gymnastics federation and the Chinese Olympic Committee and report back to the I.O.C. later Friday.

The F.I.G. has asked the Chinese for official documents, including birth certificates, of its entire women’s gymnastics team, according to I.O.C. officials. At the start of the Beijing Games, I.O.C. officials said that they had reviewed documentation provided by the Chinese team, and that they were satisfied that the gymnasts met age requirements.Read more: NY Times

Bela Karolyi, the former coach of Olympic champions Mary Lou Retton and Nadia Comaneci, has said repeatedly he believes the Chinese are cheating. Reached at his Texas ranch Friday, he said he hopes the FIG investigates with objectivity.
“My personal opinion is they want to close it without spectacular results,” Karolyi said. “I’m afraid about that. They’re going to end the issue by saying they will investigate. Nothing much will result. But who knows? I can hope.”Read more: USA Today

Karoli added:
These people think we are stupid…We are in the business of gymnastics. We know what a kid of 14 or 15 or 16 looks like. What kind of slap in the face is this? They are 12, 14 years old and they get lined up and the government backs them and the federation runs away. There is an age limit and it can’t be controlled.

On October 1, 2008, the I.O.C. cleared the Chinese Gymnasts

Five Chinese gymnasts suspected of being underage at the Beijing Olympics have been cleared by the International Gymnastic Federation (FIG).
He Kexin – one of the five – won the women’s uneven bars, pushing Britain’s Beth Tweddle into fourth place.
Gymnasts must turn 16 during the Olympic year to compete.
In a statement, FIG said it regarded the case as “concluded” but insisted it is still looking at the ages of Chinese gymnasts at the 2000 Games in Sydney.Read more: BBC

However, in 2010 a member of the the 2000 Chinese Gymnastics team was determined to be under aged and was stripped of her Bronze Medal.

Many people remember the gold-medal winning Chinese gymnastic team from 2008. Not all of the competitors looked like they were 16, which is the minimum age to participate in the Olympics. In 2000, there was at least one underage gymnast: Dong Fangxiao. Her true age wasn’t discovered until 2008, when she applied to be an official in the Beijing Olympics. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has just ruled that Dong Fangxiao was underage, and has taken away the Chinese bronze medal. This ruling changes the official Olympic record; at the same time, it also shows that the Chinese gymnasts from 2008 could eventually lose their medals, if they are proven to be underage at a later date. There is a lot of data supporting that they were underage as well; if they are proven underage, history could repeat itself.Read more: Yahoo Voices